


In which Cloud finally says goodbye to eight baby ducks who had been travelling with her for 70 days.

by CloudDragon



Category: 4thewords (Writing Game)
Genre: Bittersweet I think, Gen, Goodbyes, The leap year ducklings being their chaotic selves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:00:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24119173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudDragon/pseuds/CloudDragon
Summary: What happens when a certain writer has kept eight baby ducklings with her for 70 days and finally decides to send them home to their families? This! Bittersweet, I think, and you can pry the headcanon that my character mostly writes with paint from the Leap year duckling's feathers from my cold, dead hands. Just little red, blue and green vials on her desk-Also: Based off of true events. I did in fact actually keep eight baby ducklings from the leap year event - february 29 - in my battle queue all the way until may 10. So yeah. Read if you want too, I suppose!(Also, despite the fact that the main character is based off of me, this is not in first person. You're welcome.)Also also also, Is this the first 4thewords fanfic on the site??? Like,, It's literally a writing site. It has the highest density of writers to non-writers of anything I can think of. How have none of them written fanfic of it before.
Relationships: ClouDragon & Leap year Ducklings (2020)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	In which Cloud finally says goodbye to eight baby ducks who had been travelling with her for 70 days.

Cloud turned to the ducklings that walked beside her, petting one of them - a Tian - on the top of their head, getting a handful of blue paint in the process. "So, you're almost home. What do you guys think?"

The Dati in the group jumped up and down, clearly excited. Cloud nodded, smiling softly.

"Yeah. I'm sure you've missed your families." She said. "..I'm sorry for keeping you from them for so long."

One of the Tians - the oldest of them, and the one who had the best skills with English - shook their head. "It was fun with you! I'm happy to be going home, but I felt at home with you too. Maybe visit sometime?" They suggested, tilting their head.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah. A visit sometime sounds great."

"Catch me if you can!" The Dati chirped, hopping ahead of the group. "Come on, catch me!" They paused, tapping their foot impatiently, green paint - the small birds seemed to generate the stuff, to the point where Cloud had ended up collecting several vials of it just from cleaning up around the house - it was good for writing with, so she wasn't complaining - and the birds somehow got more paint on them even after baths and to the point where, after snuggle piles, they frequently emerged as small, rainbow messes - dripping from their feathers. Cloud chuckled as the rest of the group passed them, and they started to peep indignantly. "Hey! Don't ignore me! Hey!" They quacked, as if Cloud and the others had personally offended them somehow.

"Can- Can you quiet down?" The Aita asked, fumbling over their words for a moment before making a recovery. "Trying- listen."

"You've been trying to listen all day!" Dati complained. "What are you even listening to?" They asked, and Cloud had no doubt that if they had had arms to cross and used human body language, that those arms would be crossed. As it was, Dati just hopped up and down impatiently.

Aita hopped up and down, flapping their wings in the way Cloud had come to learn meant they didn't know the word for what they were trying to say. "Pretty sound good! Flappy flaps!"

"Birdsong?" Cloud asked, and Aita nodded, seeming happier now.

They turned back to Dati. "Birdsong!" They said, seeming proud.

 _I'm going to miss these little ones._ Cloud thought, smiling softly as she watched the little ducklings bicker. _So full of energy, always doing or learning something new, getting into trouble and trying go get back out of it.._ She sighed, not sad but nostalgically, as she looked back through the past few months she had spent with the ducklings. It had been 70 days exactly, since the first of march, and had been over half of her time as a Dust Warrior, which she had only been for 133 days so far. She let out a small breath. How fast time flew; February seemed like years ago, and yet her brain refused to believe that it was already may. But that was okay; Sometimes, you didn't need to understand. You just needed to be willing to learn, or sometimes to move on and accept that there's things you'll never know.

"Cloudy! Cloudy!" Dati hopped up and down, more excited now. "We're here, we're here!"

"We are, are we?" Cloud said, sitting down so she was closer to the level of the ducklings. "This doesn't look familiar to me, are you sure this is the right place?" She asked, a cheerful edge to her voice.

"Yep!" Dati said. "Home's just through there!" They pointed to some spot between a couple of hills, some burrow or path or something Cloud couldn't quite see.

Cloud nodded. "That's- That's good, we wouldn't want you going to the wrong place now, would we?" She asked, her smile faltering. She let out a long, shaky breath. "I'm going to miss you."

"Visits, remember!" One of the younger Tian piped up, hopping up onto Cloud's lap. The other ducklings chorused the same words.

"I know. It's just been so amazing to have all of you here." Cloud said, gently petting the feathers of one of the Tian, part of her wishing she had collected more paint so that she wouldn't risk running out.

"We'll just be over here!" Aita said. "Not that far! Come see us!"

Cloud nodded. "I will."

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah! If you enjoyed, leave a kudos or a comment, and I'll see you around!


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